Aladdin Updated, by Peter Morford

Aladdin was feeling his age.  Not surprising really because he was crossing a parched desert which stretched for miles in every direction. He staggered step by painful step, hoping he was heading south where he thought there would be an oasis. His camel had died two – or was it three? days ago. He had drunk all his water and eaten all his figs. The merciless sun had burned his bald head and dazzled his myopic eyes. Still he plodded along, slipping in the loose sand of dunes, covering his face against the occasional dust blows.                                                                                 

            He fell heavily, face first, into the sand. He couldn’t breathe until he had pushed himself into a kneeling position. He scrabbled in the sand to push himself up.  There was something just below the surface which wasn’t sand.  He smiled for the first time that day. He recognised the shape and the texture.  It was his old lamp, lost with his good luck, many years before.   He rubbed it clean. There was a loud popping noise and a puff of smoke.

            “How can I serve you, O Master?” the genie said.

            Now Aladdin was an unselfish man.  He thought of the greater good of mankind.

            “I require three wishes,” he said.

           “That’s most irregular, O Master. I usually grant only one.  But as it’s been a long time… What is your command O Master?”

             “That all human diseases cease to be.”

         There was flash of blue lightning and a great crack of thunder.

            “It is done, O Master.”

             Aladdin felt the life returning to his limbs and he could see the distant mountains clearly. His newly-restored hair was sheltering him from the sun.

            “And your second wish, O Master?”

            “That all poverty be abolished.”

            Another flash and boom.

            “It is done, O Master”

            Aladdin felt the thickness of his wallet, now filled with hundred dollar bills, credit cards and tickets to the pantomime.

            “And your third and final wish, O Master?”

            “I want the weather to be under Man’s control, so that the deserts bloom.”

            Yet another flash and bang.

            “It is done O Master. Farewell.”

            The sky clouded over and he felt the first drops of rain.  And the second.  And the third until the downpour was a monsoon.  Green shoots miraculously appeared as water gushed down the dunes.  He was soon up to his ankles, his knees, his waist.  He climbed but the water rose faster.

Aladdin, RIP.

Witchcraft, by Kwaku Gyamfi

The problem with the outside world is that they do not understand our peculiar situation in Africa. I mean, witchcraft is very real. You need to see to understand. If you don’t understand something and you just label it as superstition it is very unfair. Yes, we believe in witchcraft but that does not mean we are dumb. Wisdom and believing in witchcraft are not mutually exclusive. I dare say we are wiser for believing in these forces of darkness because they keep us on our toes. We fast and pray to keep evil away. There are some things that are difficult for the human mind to understand. The other day I was returning from a party at dawn when I saw a man with the head of a bull. He had horns, muzzle, those cattle eyes, the entire package. I was scared to the bone. The animal-man creature was walking towards me. Boy, I almost shit on myself. You know I was from a party and as you would guess I was quite tipsy. Wee was not disallowed at the party and the smokers did not spare me from the assault of their puffs. But I was sturdy. I did not sway like the drunkard of my town does. That guy eh I am sure he gets drunk even on water. Dude is always drunk I don’t know how he does it. As I was saying earlier, the creature was coming towards me. I gathered courage and approached it. It was not that I wasn’t scared. Actually I was scared to the point that I could feel it in my fingertips, even the muscles of my stomach shook. Then I saw the creature stop. It stood straight. It did not move an inch. Boy, did I stop too. If you were there you would think I was a statue. All of a sudden, the creature was covered by a thick red cloud which was very visible in the morning night. I saw the creature going down. I don’t know how to describe what I saw. It was as if it was melting, like burnt candle wax receding to its base. The curious thing was that the apparent liquid form of the creature was blue with smoke of the same colour emanating from it. This smoke mixed with the cloud I told you about earlier to form different shades of magenta. I am not sure of what that colour is called these days. Besides, I am not good with colours. I am drifting. So I moved as silently as possible to stand beside a light pole that was nearby to guard myself against evil and watched what was going on. Then all of a sudden there was an explosion. A silent explosion of colours. Every colour of the rainbow dancing before my eyes. Every shade and hue of light perceptible to the eye. And there was nothing.

 P.S: If you think I believe in witchcraft then I must also believe there are tigers in Africa, and believe in the Sugar Candy Mountain too.